Bogus fire officer directed crews in floods

A man obsessed with the fire service admitted posing as a senior officer to direct crews at the height of the flood crisis. When Peter Jennings, in full uniform, ordered pumping equipment to be moved to a pub in Tewkesbury, firefighters obeyed, leaving the town of Cheltenham a fire engine down.

Jennings, 49, from Kirkdale, Liverpool, who used to work at the Fire Service Museum in Merseyside, admitted three charges of obstructing or hindering an employee of the fire service. Stroud magistrates heard that he appeared in Tewkesbury, one of the towns hemmed in by flood waters. Police were alerted after a Merseyside fire officer noticed him in a television report of the flooding.

Peter Ashby, prosecuting, said Jennings was known to the police and fire service in Liverpool after turning up at several incidents, sometimes wearing fire service uniform. Mr Ashby said he was "fixated" by the fire service.

Joan Hughes, defending, said: "He came down to Gloucestershire with good intentions. All he wanted to do was help. Unfortunately, he didn't realise that by deploying the pump he would be leaving Cheltenham without fire service cover."

Jennings denied stealing his uniform from the museum, where he worked as a volunteer for 18 months. He has been out of work since being injured in 1988 when working in a tunnel which collapsed. He was bailed to reappear in court on September 7, to stand trial for theft.